Funding the tragedy
There is no doubt that a large portion of the Tamils living outside Sri Lanka - in one way or the other - knowingly funds the Tamil Tigers. Some do this willingly as they share the ideology that Tamils in Sri Lanka should have the ability to self-govern; others are forced into making contributions by use of force and intimidation. But neither of these groups are happy that the LTTE have killed more Tamil civilians and brought upon much hardships to the Tamil community than anyone else in the history.
Despite the pro-LTTE propaganda, the Tamil diaspora is keenly aware of the atrocities committed by the Tigers. The assassination of Tamil intellectuals, opponents and human right activists have caused deep wounds among the Tamil community that will take generations to heal. The revelation that the 15 or so Tamil fisherman from Tamil Nadu was actually captured by the LTTE and that a few of them were later executed in an attempt to implicate the Sri Lankan forces only further substantiates the fact that LTTE murders hundreds of Tamils just for the sake of propaganda.
While most Tamils around the world still continue to help raise funds for the LTTE, an increasing number of them are questioning the logic behind the funding that cause destruction of the wider Tamil community in Sri Lanka. Some argue the end will justify the means; but the means has caused irreparable damage the fabric of the Tamil society and the 'end' is no where in sight.
Despite the pro-LTTE propaganda, the Tamil diaspora is keenly aware of the atrocities committed by the Tigers. The assassination of Tamil intellectuals, opponents and human right activists have caused deep wounds among the Tamil community that will take generations to heal. The revelation that the 15 or so Tamil fisherman from Tamil Nadu was actually captured by the LTTE and that a few of them were later executed in an attempt to implicate the Sri Lankan forces only further substantiates the fact that LTTE murders hundreds of Tamils just for the sake of propaganda.
While most Tamils around the world still continue to help raise funds for the LTTE, an increasing number of them are questioning the logic behind the funding that cause destruction of the wider Tamil community in Sri Lanka. Some argue the end will justify the means; but the means has caused irreparable damage the fabric of the Tamil society and the 'end' is no where in sight.
posted by java man at 5/04/2007 09:09:00 PM
8 Comments:
Good point. I am sure most are in two minds. Ideally the Sri Lankan government should address the Tamil asipirations and destroy the LTTE. Violence and destruction has no place in building a society. LTTE has done far more damage to Tamils than the failed policies of the Sri Lankan democracy.
The biggest single mistake the LTTE did was to prevent people voting in the last presidential election.
The people wanted peace, prabha wanted war and therefore he wanted MR in.
That one blunder cost him the support of the international community and a good part of the Tamil population, both within and without Sri Lanka.
There has been far more serious questioning of the LTTE's means and its objectives since then.
Realising, too late, the cost of its move, teh LTTE is now trying to win back the international community.
It is this, more than anything else , that is keeping the LTTE from hitting major civilian targets, especially in the capital.
Why do you call it blunder? Within 15 years, LTTE has become an army with air capabilities? So who is winning?
Another crucial factor is that the LTTE has wiped out a generation of Tamil youth through forced child conscriptions. They are wiping out their own future. Prabhakaran cant live forever now can he? It will soon all be over for the Tamils of Sri lanka unless they all call for a laydown of arms. Wont happen because the LTTE has grown beyond the Tamils and it doesnt need the Tamils to survive. The LTTE is similiar to MS-13 google it and you'll see what i mean
Well said. I am not a Tamil but I will join you in a peaceful, non-violent war to establish due rights for Tamils in Sri Lanka through democratic means. The military war is counter productive.
Yes, you are right. The Tamil Diasporas community knows well that large numbers of Tamils (so called intellectuals) were killed by LTTE but, why do we still support LTTE? The so called intellectual’s assassinated by LTTE were banking on the suffering of the Tamils by embracing Sinhalese policies. All the Tamils that were killed by the LTTE were not innocent; they have known and unknowingly contributed to the Sinhalese policies. Those who did it unknowingly definitely got warnings however; they refused to look into the matter and disregarded the Tamil cause. LTTE killing more Tamils then the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and Sinhalese thugs is a total bullshit.
One may ask why all these violence it was because the first generation of Tamils after the independence believed in a unitary state. When they found out that it was a bad idea, they tried all diplomatic and non-violence solution and ended up as a major failure to bring a self-determination of the Tamils. The second generation were being denied education, position in government employment and was subjected to harsh violence perpetrated by elite Sinhalese (mostly with in the governments) using the Armed Forces and Sinhalese thugs. Almost two one and half million Tamils (it does not matter to my generation that if they are Lankan Tamils or Indian Tamils they are all Tamils) were denied citizenship and left dangling between Indian and Sri Lankan due to the Sinhalese policy and proclaiming of the island to Sinhalese Buddhist exclusively. Those who were to protect the law and order just watched everything from looting, killing, rape, torture. Some wanted to protect law and order as that were the duties but the high officials order was to just watch and the others just naturally liked the suffering of the Tamils as the Police and Armed Forces were exclusively Sinhalese and majority of them actually committed the crimes that they sworn to wipe out. The result was the Tamil youth going up in flames and picking up weapons, which eventually resulted in the birth of the formidable LTTE. There were times when LTTE massacred Sinhalese civilians who had no idea what was happening in the country or had no idea who were running the country and what kind of policies the government implemented (they were poor and were happy that they got some land to fill their stomach under the government schemes). Of course they had no idea that these lands were grabbed of the Tamils and awarded to them. LTTE had no problem just chasing them away but, it went ugly when the Sinhalese thugs and Sri Lankan Armed Forces started taking innocent Tamil lives just for their leisure again just like they did before the 1983 pogrom.
I will give you one example: along the Karioor 35 fisherman went out to the sea on a boat to do their living and suddenly helicopter with machete armed Sri Lankan Navy personals were dropped in the boat. You can figure out what happened next, these men’s boat was brought to the shore with head on the other side, body on another side and legs and hands missing (for anyone who sees such sight would ignite flames and make the blood boil with vengeance). This prompted many of the youths in and around the Karioor village to take up arms to defend what they have left, and for the already trained LTTE fighters to go enrage. To avenge the 35 dead innocent men and to show that LTTE will not tolerate such disregard for Tamil lives, and estimated 50 armed female fighters just walked to an Sinhalese dominated village. What happened next was the slaughter of 130 Sinhalese women, children, men and elderly (the entire village was wiped out in a matter of few minutes).
LTTE has a goal and it’s Tamil Eelam which will give all the rights denied by the Sinhalese policies to the Tamils in their homeland. The Buddhist monks and some Sinhalese argue that they were on the Island before everyone which is bullshit. Those claims is not even worth arguing about because the history is already there and was already proven but, the monk’s just keep on brushing of the facts and are embracing the fantasy novel “Mahavamsa” as their true historical record.
Everyone including the Sri Lankan government are ignoring the root cause and thinking that LTTE is the absolute cause to the whole problem. By defeating LTTE you will only create even more formidable force of another generation of LTTE. I and my friends are the new generation of Tamils and the generation before us is the ones who created LTTE and who are running the LTTE and the generation before them are those who failed to bring a solution through negotiations. LTTE is agreed for negotiations even though they have the military might to achieve what they want but, they are looking at a long term consequence of a military victory for Tamil Eelam (of course a neighbor who separated with harsh resentment will only result in a relationship that of Pakistan and India). As for my generation we don’t give shit about the Sinhalese and if Tamil Eelam is to be made a reality by wiping out the entire Sinhalese race then we won’t hesitate. Also my generation will not stop at Tamil Eelam, we have a wider nationalistic goals and India will feel it which it is not yet ready for. If our generation is to replace LTTE, my generation from Tamil Nadu will be more sympathic and physically involved should to shoulder. We will go further and fuel the freedom struggle for Kashmir, Kalhistan and many parts of India that wants Independent (naturally Sri Lanka should be our target but the Sinhalese would be so terrified of the extremism that they will bow to any demands by our generation). The only people who can stop us are the generation before us (current LTTE) who are our role model. We didn’t pick them as our role model because they are violent and brilliant in battlefield, it is because they sacrificed their life for the freedom of our people and shed their youth in battlefield to give us an identity and save us when we were at the verge of being wiped out. The reality was, is and will be that I would not be here writing this comment to an article if they choose to negotiate instead of an armed struggle. Indians were called terrorists, rebels and fools by the British under British India when they took up armed struggle. Now they got their independence from their colonial master. Currently that is what we are called, but we know what we are and it will not change the goal until it is achieved.
It is way too late for a unitary Sri Lanka because the damage is already done. What guarantees that past will not repeat even if Sri Lanka remained unitary? What guarantees our peoples safety at the hands of the majority Sinhalese? What about the injustice done to us, are we to forget and forgive? What about the year of suffering, economic loses, humiliation and discrimination?
The solution is Tamil Eelam. I speak for myself and my generation especially my friends, that Tamil Eelam will be achieved at any cost, if LTTE does not achieve it through negotiation or militarily we will begin the military path where they have ended. Oppressors always called the oppressed “terriorists, outlaw, rebels, criminals and so on”. If I am to pick up the armed struggle (there will be no negotiations) I will proudly assume these titles as long as the people that I am fighting for shows affection towards me.
Sure, and we are much closer to that goal than we were at anytime earlier.
Our glorious leader is currently unavailable. He will make the grand pronouncement that we've won, once he finishes taking a dump....
When are we going to come close to getting our self-determination, is it by talking to the Sinhalese? Well, we been there and done that long before LTTE came into existence. What was the result? Genocide of the Tamils, destruction of our properties and the creation of a brutal Civil War. Talking to the Sinhalese is useless, unless we are at a position of power and LTTE is the only power we have. If LTTE is lost I can guarantee that Tamils around the world will pour money into Tamil Nadu to gain absolute domination of the Indian Ocean crushing the Sinhalese in every direction.
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